Knife sharpening apparatus for food slicing machines



Wm. L 1956 2,31,184

G. R. WOOD KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR FOOD SLICING MACHINES OriginalFiled Aug. 18, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet l Geo/"ye A? Waad Nov. 2L, 195G G. R.WOOD KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR FOOD sucma MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2Original Filed Aug. 18, 1942 F I G E art 0W0? 'eorye 2 W000 NW. 21, 1950ca. R. WOOD 5,

KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR FOOD sucmc MACHINES Original Filed Aug.18, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.

G XHI g wwoq, 84 660/96 E. Vl aoa ml. 21, 19510 G. R. WOOD 2,531,184

KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR FOOD SLICING MACHINES Original Filed Aug.18, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG.

2] woe/Mm av. 21, 1950 G R WOOD 2,531,184

KNIFE SHARI EN ING APPARATUS FOR FOOD SLICING MACHINES Original FiledAug. 18, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFlCE KNIFE SHARPENING APPARATUS FOR FOOD SLICING MACHINESGeorge Wood, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Toledo Scale Company, Toledo,Ohio, a corporation of New Jersey Continuation of application Serial No.455,233,

filed August 18, 1942. February 6, 1.947, Serial No. 726,899

1 7 Claims.

This invention relates to food handling apparatus, and more particularlyto a slicing machine in which a commodity to be sliced is reciprocatedpast the edge of a circular rotating knife, to sever This applicationfiled It is another object of this invention to provide a unitary knife,drive housing and guard for the knife, presenting an exterior having acontinuous, smooth, easily cleaned surface.

a slice from the commodity during each forward .5 It is a further objectof this invention to prostroke. vide a sharpening device for a slicingmachine Due to the greasy nature of most commodities having a rotatablecircular knife,' which is .so which are sliced on machines of this type,and .to designedas to be mounted within a unitary housthe fact that purefood iaws and the requireing also enclosing the knife and mechanism forments of sanitation make it imperative that a 10 rotating it. foodhandling machine be easily cleaned and It is a still further object ofthis invention to maintained in spick and span condition, it is providea sharpening device which automatically desirable that a machine for theslicing of commoves from its inactive. to its active position. moditiesbe compactand as free as possible from Still another obj of thisinvention is obstructions and projections which will catch 1 provide asharpening device for a rotatable cirand retain dirt and grease. cularknife, mounted in a housing also contain- In order to operatesatisfactorily, the knife on ing h knife and its d vi meehenism, wh ch afood handling machine of this type must be can be moved into sharpeningposition without kept extremely sharp and, therefore, such a madetachingor removing portions of the housingor chine has a built-in sharpeningdevice with hi of a unitary guard for the knife which constitutes theoperator can sharpen the knife at-will. Such a portion of the housing.

a device, because it must he movable into and More specifi bj and dv n rpout of sharpening position, usually. constitutes a parent fromdescription, in Which e ere c separate mechanism mounted somewhere .nearis had to the accompam g drawings stratthe periphery of the blad usuallyi hou ed ing preferred embodiments of the invention. separately andoftentimes constitutes a dirt n he draw ngs:

catcher. Sometimes the sharpining device is per- Figure I is a w inperspective frOm e le t manently positioned above the knife insharpenfrent or e of a Slicing machine of the spr ing position in orderto make it unnecessary to feed yp embodying the nven ion.

provide means for moving the device in and out .30 Figure 1 is a View inperspective om t e r h of such position. This arrangement is hig l rearcorner of the slicing machine shown in Figdisadvantageous because greasethrown from the rapidly rotating knife is lodged on the sharpen- FigureII is an enlarged view, p y in elevaing wheels and, destr s thei emcacytion and partly in section, from the front of the The elements-whichconstitute .a slicing mamachine Shown in Figure certain p s ing chine ofthis type include the knife blade, for broken awaywhich a guard iscustomarily provided, the motor Figure IV is a fragmentary View, p y inSe0- and gearing or m 011 t e means for tion, taken from the left sideof Figure III and tating or driving the knife, the sharpening de-Showing a unitary uS vice and other conventional parts, such as the 40Figure V is afragmentary View: in elevation. commodity-carrying,slice-deflecting and .sliceof a unitary knife guard forming a po o areceiving members of the-machine. unitary knife and drive housin It isan object of this invention. to provide a Figure V1 greatly enlargedfragmentary unitary housing which will enclose the rotary detailed View,taken Substantially 011 he i e circular knife and all mechanism directlycon- 46 VIVI of Figure nected with its operation, i. e., driving means,Figure V11 is a still further enlarged fragpower transmission means andsharpening mentel'y View, Showing a Sharpening device means. activeposition.

It is another object of this invention to pro- FigUI'eVIH tie a VSimilar to F u VII but vide a unitary housing for the enclosure of the50 Showing device in inactive p s o mechanism for driving the knife andthe mecha Fi ur IX is a fragmentary view, taken su nism for sharpeningthe knife, thereby eliminatstantially on the line IX-JXof Figure VIII.ing separate housings for these elements and Figure X is a detailedview, in elevation, taken providing a smooth exterior housing surfacesubstantially from the position indicated by the which easily can bekept clean and sanitary. line X'-'X oi-F'igure VII.

Figure XI is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantiallyon the line XI-XI of Figure X.

Figure XII is a fragmentary view, in elevation, taken substantially fromthe position shown by the line Xl1XII of Figure VII.

Figure XIII is a vertical sectional view showing a finishing wheel.

Figure XIV is a similar view showing a grinding wheel.

Figure XV is a view in perspective similar to Figure I but of amodification of the invention as incorporated in a gravity feed slicingmachine.

Figure XVI is a view similar to Figure II but of the device shown inFigure XV.

Figure XVII is a front view, partly in section and partly in elevation,of the device shown in Figure XV.

Figure XVIII is a view similar to Figure I but of a modified form of theinvention.

Figure XIX is a view similar to Figure II but of a modified form of theinvention as shown in Figure XVIII.

Figure XX is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view, showing a sharpeneingdevice incorporated in the embodiment of the invention shown in FigureXVIII.

Figure XXI is a perspective view of still another modification of theinvention showing another possible location of the sharpening device.

These specific drawings and the specific description that follows merelydisclose and illustrate the invention and are not intended to imposelimitations upon the claims.

The slicing machine embodying the invention shown in Figures I to XIVcomprises a base III atop the rear left portion of which there ismounted a unitary housing II. The unitary housing I I contains mountingand driving means for a rotatable circular knife I2, which is guarded bymeans of a knife guard I3 with the exception of the forward edge of theknife which is adjacent one edge of a gauge plate I4 mounted in the baseII] in a plane parallel to the plane of rotation of the knife I2 andadjustable on a line perpendicular to such plane by means of anindicating knob I5 located on the front of the base III. The adjustmentof the gauge plate I4, and respect to the plane of rotation of the knifeI2, determines the thickness of the slices cut from a commodity carriedby a commodity tray I6 reciprocable past the edge of the knife l2. Thecommodity is held against the fact of the gauge plate I I b a spring-fedclamp II. Slices severed from the commodity by the knife I2 aredeflected by a deflector plate I8 as they are severed by the knife andfall into a slice-receiving platter I9 located in front of the deflectorplate I8 and to the left of the gauge plate I4.

The unitary drive housing II encloses a driving motor and a drive stand2| located at the right of the motor 20 (Figure III). The drive stand 2|serves as a mountin for a dual sheave pulle 22, in the larger sheave ofwhich is engaged a driving belt 23 which also is engaged in a motorpulley 24 secured on the end of the shaft of the motor 20. A second belt25 is engaged in wardly into a trough 21 in the upper surface of thebase III, which trough has an open end 28 extending from beneath theknife I2 over the innermost corner of the slice-receiving platter IS.The trough 21 provides room for the insertion of a cloth to clean outparticles of grease or of the commodity which may cling to, and bethrown from, the rotating circular knife. The bottom portion of apartition 28, which is erected within the housing II, forms one side ofthe trough 21 to prevent the ingress of such grease and dirt into theinterior of the housing II. The partition 28 surrounds the knife hub 26and extends across the interior of the housing II in back of the knifeI2. The knif I2 has an annular beveled cutting edge 29 and a dished-inforward face 30.

The knife guard I3, which extends all around the knife I2 except at thefront adjacent the edge of the gauge plate I 4, is preferably unitary inconstruction and blends into the contour of the unitary housing II. Theknife guard I3 has a lower flange III which overlies the trough 27 andis curved over to blend into the contour of the upper surface of thebase I 6. The knife guard I3 has an annular raised portion 32 coveringthe annular cutting edge 29 of the knife I2, and a fiat center 33 whichis dished and lies within the dished-in face of the knife, having itsouter surface in the same plane as the cutting edge of the knife. Theknife guard is mounted by means of two pins 34 which are riveted to theundersurface of the flange 3| and extend downwardly into two holes inthe upper surface of the base ID near the trough 27, and by theengagement of two clips 35, which are adjustably secured to aturned-over lip 36 of the housing II by means of two screws 31 and whichare engaged in slots in a pair of brackets 38 welded to the interior ofthe knife guard I3. The screws 31 also serve to hold the partition 28 inplace.

As can be seen in Figure IV, the front wall of the unitary housing IIcurves to form a guard 39 for that portion of the knife immediatelyabove the gauge plate and blends into the contour of the slice-deflectorplate I8 which overlies the forward face of the housing II.

The upper end of the drive stand 2| is formed into a bracket 40 (FigureVII) to which is attached a sharpener stand 4|. The stand II is securedto the bracket 40 by means of two bolts 42 (Figure XI) which passthrough vertically elongated holes 43 in the stand II and are threadedinto the bracket 40. The stand AI is forked, having three upwardlyextending arms 44, 45 and 48, and mounts in the upper ends of the arms44 and 16 a horizontal pintle 41 on which is swivelably mounted asharpening device 48.

Located above the bracket 40 and sharpening device 48 is a hatch cover49, normally held closed by a spring catch 50 (Figure IV) mounted on theinterior of the forward wall of the housing II, which has a hook 5|engaged in an eye of a bracket 52 welded to the undersurface of thehatch cover 49. The catch 50 is released by means of a push button 53which extends through the upper forward wall of the housing II andwhich, when pushed, disengages the catch 50 from the bracket 52. Whenthe push button 53 is pressed, the hatch cover 49, which is hinged tothe upper rear wall of the housing II by a hinge 54, is snapped upwardlyby means of a spring 55, which surrounds a bent rod 56 pivoted to an ear5'! on the interior of the hatch cover 49, and which normally iscompressed between a lug 58 formed from a portion of the housing memes.

5 H tinough whichthe rod 5:6 extends; andra split washer- 59 secured. tothe: rod 56..

An end wall 60 f the hatch cover id-formsa portion of the annular"section 32 of the knife guard t3 and isv shaped to conform to the.exterior contour of the knife guard. When the hatch cover #9. is. swungupwardly and; out of the: way by the expansion. of the. spring a short:-sector of the. edge of the knife 1E2 ex:- posedthrou'g-h: the. space.occupiedrnormallyby the end. wall 61):

A coil spring 6|. (Figure.rX)., which. surrounds thepintle. 415.,actsbetween a finger 62. on the arm 45 of the stand. 41: and asubstantially U shaped frame 63 of the sharpening. device; 48*, tendingto swing the sharpening device upwardly and to the right. The sharpeningdevice. is released from itsinactive position (shown inFigure: VIII)when the hatch cover 49.- is swung upwardly and a button 64', on the endof the bent rod 56., engages a: horizontal link 65, through which thebent rod 56: passes; pulling the link 65. to the left and snap'ping abent: latch 66, to which the link 65 is attached, to the left, thusremoving the latch 6'6 from above one shoulder of a semicircular-stopmemberfl'l; and allowing the spring 61 to swing the sharpening deviceinto active position. The spring 61 forces the. sharpening deviceupwardly and to the right with just sufii cient momentum to carryit astadead center point-at which the weight ofthesharpener would be baiancedby'the strength of the spring, so that the sharpening device swings overuntil a foot 68 (:Figure XI), formed 'onthe U shaped frame 63, engagesthe. upper end'of' the arm 45 of the bracket H. The latch 65- (Figure X)is urged to the right (as in Figures VII and VIII) by means of a smallspring 69, which is located in a counter bore l0 in the arm 44 andsurrounds a screw TI on which the latch 66 is pivoted, and thus it snapsbeneath the other shoulder of the member 6 holding the sharpening device48 in active position.

The sharpening device 48 comprises two barrels T2 and T3, the barrel 12serving to mount a finishing wheel 14" rotatably journaled on a shaft'15 which is located in the interior of a horizontally s'lidabletliimble '16 mounted within the barrel T2; The thimble 16 is preventedfrom rotating by a set screw T! which is threaded through the wall ofthe barrel 72- and engaged in a longttudinal groove '58 in the peripheryof the thimble 2'5. When the sharpening device is in active position(Figures VII and XII), the finishing wheel M is held away from the flatedge of the knife E2 by a spring 19 which surrounds the thimble i6 andacts between a flange 80 on the interior of the barrel 1'2 and ashoulder 8! on the th'imble 7 6. Threaded on the end of the thimbie i isa corrugated knob 82, by means of which an operator can pull thefinishing Wheel T l into engagement with the flat edge of the knife l2.

A grinding wheel 83 is rotatably journaled on a shaft 84 which ismounted within a thimble 8'5" slidable in the barrel [3 and preventedfrom rotation by a screw 86 threaded through the wall of the barrel T3and into a longitudinal slot in 12 by the grinding-wheel forward intoengagementwith-the The sharpening device: may be: returned to inactiveposition by pulling the now open hatch cover 49: slightly to the leftand thus, throughv the medium, of the bentrod 56' and the link pullingthe latch 66 to the left: and disengaging it from beneath the shoulderof the member El. Nextthe sharpening device 48 may be flipped downwardlyto the left, the pressure on thehatch cover 49- being then relieved sothat the latch 56- snaps over the other shoulder of the member 61,looking the sharpening device in its 7 inactive position. The hatchcover 419' may then be snapped shut.

Thus when the sharpening device is in its in active position, and thehatch cover 49 is closed, the sharpening device is out of the path ofparticles of grease and of the commodity which may .be thrown from therotating circular knife, and

is'wi-th-in the main drive housing, which thus affords a smoothcontinuous exterior surface easy to keep clean and free from dust anddirt. Whenever it is desired to sharpen the circular knife; thesharpening device may be brought which continues through the knife guardto prdv vide asingle-unitary enclosure.

The embodiment of the invention shown in Figures XV, XVI and XVIIcomprises a base i [la at the left rear corner of which there is erecteda unitary housing He in which is rotatably mounted a circular knife [2a,the edge of which is substantially inclined to the vertical. The knifeHe is enclosed in a guard 13a which covers all of the edge thereofexcept the portion adjacent the curved edge of a gauge plate Ma,

which also is inclined to the vertical and is mounted in a planeparallel to the plane of the. knife. The gauge plate Ma is adjustable ona line perpendicular to such plane by means of an adjusting knob 5a,which is located on the fora ward portion of the base Ida. Asubstantially trough-shaped commodity tray 15a is mounted on an angularbracket 'l'i'a substantially perpendicular to the face of the knife andgauge plate,

to carry a commodity which is moved down the a trough against the gaugeplate by gravity. Slices. of the commodity carried by the tray lfia aresevered therefrom by the rotary knife I20; as the commodity tray ismoved past the cutting edge of the, knife, and are deflected by a formeddeflector plate iBa located on the frontof the housing Ha onto acommodity-receiving platter I941. Enclosed. within the housing Ila is amotor 20a which, through the medium of gears mounted a in a. casing 2|a, rotates the circular knife 5.2a. The casing 2 la supports a sharpenerbracket 40a.

to which is secured a sharpener stand 4111 which mounts a sharpeningdevice 48a. A. hatch cover 49a is hinged at the rear of the housing Maand forms the top of the housing, having a turnedover section Gilaconstituting a portionofthe;

knife guard I3a. A push button 53a, extending through the front side ofthe housing Ila, when pressed,releases the mechanism holding the hatchcover 49a closed, permitting it to spring open, and thus, in the manneralready described, causing the sharpening device 48a to swing upwardlyinto sharpening position above, and to the left of, that portion of theknife [2a exposed by displacement of the section 60a of the knife guardI311.

The only significant difference between the embodiment of the inventionshown in Figures I, II and III and that shown in Figures XV, XVI andXVII is the inclination of the knife, gauge plate and commodity tray inthe latter embodiment to provide for gravity feed rather than springpressure feed. The unitary nature of the housing is the same in bothmodifications of the invention, the external contour of the housingbeing slightly different however to compensate for the difference in thepositions of the rotary knives l2 and He.

Figures XVIII, XIX and XX illustrate yet another embodiment of theinvention in which a sharpening device 4812 is located within a towerportion 99b of a unitary motor and drive housing ilb mounted atop therear left portion of a base It. Other parts of the device, i. e., aknife I2b, a knife guard l3b, a gauge plate Mb, an indicating knob [5b,a commodity tray 16b, a clamp l'lb, a deflector plate 18b and aslicereceiving platter lSb, may be substantially identical to thoseemployed in the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures I, II andIII.

There is illustrated in Figure XX an alternate form of hatch coveropening mechanism. A hatch cover 49b, which is hinged at the upper rearof the tower portion 90b of the housing llb, has a depending tab 9|b towhich is pivoted a slotted bar 9212. A pin 93b, riveted to the inside ofthe tower portion 901), extends through a slot 941) in the bar 92b. Aspring 95b is hooked over the pin 93b and in a turned-over end 9% of thebar 92b. When a push button 53b, which extends through the forward wallof the tower portion 99b above the upper edge of the deflector platelBb, is pressed the hatch cover 4% is unlatched, as explained above, andthe contraction of the spring 951) snaps the bar 92b upwardly to flipthe hatch cover 49b to th left. The sharpening device 43b is released toswing upwardly and to the right by manually moving a formed latch 661)out of engagement with a semi-circular shoulder member 67b attached tothe sharpening device 48b. The release of the sharpening device 48b inthis form of construction is not automatic as in the construction shownin Figures VII through XI.

Figure XXI illustrates a slicing machine in which a hatch cover 490 islocated at the rear of a unitary housing llc rather than at its top. Thesharpening device (not shown) employed in this modification of theinvention swivels on a vertical pintle rather than a horizontal pintle.Otherwise, the mechanism employed is essentially the same as that in thedevice shown in Figures 1, II and III. The remaining elements of theslicing machine, namely a base I00, on which the housing He is mounted,a rotary knife I20, a knife guard [30, a gauge plate Me, a commoditytray l6c and a deflector plate and slice-receiving platter (not shown),may be substantially identical to those shown in Figures I, II and III,with the exception that the knife guard |3c has the opening for thehatch cover 490 at its side rather than at its top.

The embodiments of the invention that have been disclosed may bemodified to meet various requirements.

Thic application is a continuation of my copending application Ser. No.455,233, which wa filed August 18, 1942.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In a slicing machine having a rotatable circular knife and a drivetherefor, in combination, a housing adjacent said knife having anaperture, and a sharpener mounted for pivotal movement through saidaperture between a sharpening position in proximity to the edge of theknife and an inverted position in said housing.

2. In a slicing machine having a circular rotary knife and a drivetherefor, in combination, a drive housing, an aperture in said housing,a sharpener pivotally mounted in said housing for movement from aninactive position entirely within said housing to an active sharpeningposition extending at least partially through said aperture, and a coverfor said aperture, said cover constituting a part of said housing andconforming in contour thereto.

3. In a slicing machine having a circular, rotary knife and a drivetherefor, in combination, a housing adjacent said knife including aguard for said knife, an aperture in said housing and in said guard,said apertures being continuous, a sharpening device pivotally mountedin said housing for movement through said apertures from an inactiveposition within said housing to an active position adjacent the edge ofsaid knife,

manually releasable means for holding said' sharpening device ininoperative position, automatic means for moving said sharpening devicefrom inactive position'to active position and a cover for said aperturesincluding a flush section of said housing and aflush section of saidknife guard.

4. In a slicing machine having a circular rotary knife and a drivetherefor, in combination,

a housing adjacent said knife including a removable guard for saidknife, the abutting edges of said guard and of the remainder of saidhousing being flush, an aperture in the upper portion of moved from theedge of said knife to an upper.

active position adjacent the periphery of said knife at such exposedsegment.

5. A sharpening device for a slicer having a circular rotary knife, adrive for said knife, a housing adjacent said knife, an aperture in saidhousing and a dis-placeable flush cover therefor, comprising, a framepivotally mounted in said housing for swinging movement through saidaperture from an inactive position within said housing to an activeposition adjacent the edge of said knife, stops engageable by said frameto locate said frame in each of its positions, a semicircular shoulderedmember secured to said.

frame, a latch engageable with either shoulder of said semicircularmember to hold said frame in either of its positions, a grinding wheel,and a finishing wheel rotatably journaled in said frame and located,when said device is in active position, one on each side of said knife,means for engaging said wheels with said knife and a spring for swingingsaid frame from its inactive to its active position.

position 6. In a slicing machine having a circular rotary knife and adrive therefor, in combination, a housing adjacent said knife, anaperture in said housing, a sharpener pivotally mounted in said housingfor movement through said aperture from an inactive position within saidhousing to an active sharpening position adjacent the edge of saidknife, a di'splaceable cover for said aper ture hinged to and forming aflush part of said housing, a spring for displacing said cover, a latchfor holding said cover closed and a push button extending exteriorly ofsaid housing for releasing said latch.

7. In a slicing machine having a. rotatable circular knife, and a drivetherefor, in combination, a drive housing including a knife guardforming part of said housing, said knife guard including a wall coveringthe central portion of the circular knife, a partition in said housingseparating the circular knife from the rest of said housing, a sharpenermovably mounted on the machine for movement between an inactive positionsubstantially within said housing and an active position in proximity tothe edge of the knife, an

10 aperture in said housing to provide clearance for movement of thesharpener, and a displaceable cover for said aperture, forming part ofsaid housing.

GEORGE R. WOOD.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

